Currently, there are systems that allow a user to select a text file as the basis for generating search terms. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,460 discloses a system that allows a user to select a document. The document is then scanned for word frequencies by extracting out common words such as “the,” “and,” and the like. The user is then presented with a list of words and then can select and/or delete words that the user wants and/or does not want to use in the search. The user can then select which documents to perform the search upon using the selected words from the word list.
One of the problems with this system is that it requires user interaction for each search. Every time a user does a search, the user is required to select/delete search terms in order to perform a search. Moreover, this system fails to recognize that different sections of documents may be more relevant to the search than other sections. Instead of allowing the user to define specific sections of a document to search, all sections of the documents are scanned for word frequencies. This results in more work for the user to sort through search terms that may not be relevant. In addition, this system cannot generate search terms for non-text documents/items such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Tag Image File Format (TIFF), Waveform Audio Format (WAV), and the like.
There are a variety of systems that allow for user-defined profiles to sort/rank search results after an initial search has been performed. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0240580 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,590 disclose systems where a user can create a profile that ranks search results. After the user enters search terms in a search engine and starts a search, the search results are reordered based on the ranking in the profile. The problem with these systems is that they do not generate search terms based on documents, images, audio files, and/or look at specific sections in objects to determine search terms. Instead, these systems focus on post-search processing.